ACI warns main objection to expansion is environmental
Airport operators in Europe have warned that Eurocontrol's plans to increase runway capacity at second-tier airports could be impossible to implement because of the continent's strong environmental lobby.
Eurocontrol is acting as consultant to 10 congested airports in Europe in a bid to identify more efficient use of runways to minimise airport delays. The European arm of the Airports Council International (ACI) dismisses Eurocontrol's views that airport operators prefer to invest in retailing rather than make even simple runway changes (Flight International, 10-16 February).
ACI Europe director general Philippe Hamon says: "The main barrier to airports investing in runway capacity increases is environmental, not financial." Hamon says ACI Europe's experts have worked with Eurocontrol to define "quick wins" in terms of runway upgrades, but claims that even simple alterations to airside tarmac "can take decades to come to fruition due to planning constraints".
ACI says runway layout in Europe has never been efficient, chiefly due to concerns by local governments about aircraft noise. In place of runway changes, ACI Europe says procedural issues, such as continuous approach, should be implemented, to reduce the overall noise impact of flights. If correctly implemented, and combined with precision autopilot virtual flightpaths, aircraft could descend with engines idle.
At airports with restrictive quotas, any resultant noise reduction could increase take-off and landing frequencies, thus moving closer towards theoretical maximum capacity. "The next step will depend on whatever Eurocontrol can produce to mitigate landing impact on environmental limits," says ACI Europe.
The grouping is also urging Eurocontrol to accelerate its studies into advanced surface movement control and guidance systems which build on multilateration ground radar to provide air traffic controllers with a synthetic view of the apron during low-visibility. It says the use of such systems will reduce on-apron delays more effectively than small infrastructure changes.
JUSTIN WASTNAGE / LONDON
Source: Flight International
